An extra stripe runs across the familiar colours - it's a seatbelt, and it's there to make a point.
The change is part of a road safety campaign with NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi, now in its second year of working with provincial rugby unions. The message is simple: buckle up, every drive, no matter how short.
The statistics behind it are stark. Since 2020, a third of the people who died in vehicle crashes in New Zealand were not wearing a seatbelt — 500 lives. Young men are the group most at risk, and half of all injury crashes happen within 7km of home, which undercuts the idea that a short trip is a safe one to skip a seatbelt on.
Northland's numbers carry particular weight this week. In 2025, 67% of drivers and passengers who died in crashes in the region were unbelted. Taniwha captain Matt Moulds called the figure mind-blowing and said the team hopes the jerseys will get people thinking, even on trips that don't feel like they warrant it.
Paul Thompson, Commercial Manager at Otago Rugby Football Union, who manages the partnership on behalf of the provincial unions, said the fit made sense. The men most likely to skip a seatbelt are the same age group filling the terraces, the clubrooms and the teams themselves. The campaign's line, "Who do you wear it for?", is built around that overlap — the reminder that not buckling up doesn't only put the person in the vehicle at risk.
Fans at both games will be able to try seatbelt simulators pitchside, giving a firsthand sense of what a belt does in a crash: spreading the force of impact, and keeping people in their seats instead of being thrown from the vehicle.
The Manawatū Turbos play Taranaki Bulls at Central Energy Trust Arena this evening. The Northland Taniwha play Waikato at Semenoff Stadium on 12 September.